Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): November 2023

Welcome to Somalia! Somalia has the longest coastline in mainland Africa, due to its shape and location within the continent. While Somalia is not the poorest country in the world, it is the second poorest country in the world (I always thought it was the poorest). Somalia has been in a civil war since 1991, and it is considered to be the most unstable country in the world. All that to say, I don't have a strong desire to visit Somalia, but do have a conviction to pray for the country and the people that live there. According to Google, the population of Somalia is 17.07 million people, and the capital is Mogadishu (which is where Madagascar got it's name!). Their national dish is...

Sambusa!

It is basically an African empanada. It is a dough filled with a meat filling, and then fried in hot oil. Apparently this is a dish that is made during Ramadan too! To go with the sambusa, we made Beef Suqaar and Somali Tea. I thought I would be more "clean and tidy" and cut up everything needed for all the recipes before starting, but I ended up making just as big a mess. I tried...Here's what I did:

SAMBUSA

Filling

1 lb ground beef

1tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp salt
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp cardamom

1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1 Serrano chili
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, only the green part, chopped

Wrappers

390g gluten free flour

2 tsp xanthum gum
3/4 tsp salt
2 C warm water

1 tbsp canola oil

Extra oil and flour for working the dough wrappers

Gently sauté the onion in oil and then add the ground beef.
Cook the meat until the liquid is almost gone.
Add the spices and garlic and stir to combine.
Add cilantro and green onion and continue cooking until the filling is dry.
Cool the filling to around room temperature while making the wrappers.
Mix flour with salt in a medium bowl.
Add warm water little by little while mixing the dough.
Knead the dough by hand and then add 1 tbsp of oil. Knead the dough until smooth.
Cover the dough with a wet cloth and let it rest 15 minutes.
Preheat oven 392°F and line a tray with parchment paper.
Start heating some oil for deep-frying.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
Place two balls back under the wet cloth and start working on the other two.
With a rolling pin, roll each dough piece round and flat, about the size of a salad plate.
Dust the table and the pin with flour if the dough sticks.
Evenly spread oil onto the surface of the first dough plate and place the other dough plate on top of it.
Continue rolling until the diameter of the double plate is around 8 inches in diameter. The dough should be thin.
Cut the rolled out dough into quarters.
Pinch 2 of the 3 sides together with your fingers to make a seal, and carefully open the 3rd side to put the filling in.
Carefully put some filling in the pocket, and then pinch to seal.
Carefully fry the sambusas in the hot oil, until it is crispy - about 3 minutes per side.
Serve immediately and hot!

(Source: Sambusas and Sambusas)

BEEF SUQAAR

1 onion, sliced in half moons
3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 lbs beef, cubed
1 cup beef broth
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 red potatoes, cubed
1 Serrano chili, diced
1 handful cilantro, chopped

2 tbsp avocado oil

Fry the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in oil until soft.
Add the beef, broth, carrots, and potatoes.
Stir to combine, and add in the broth.
Simmer until tender, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro and enjoy!

(Source: Beef Suqaar)

SOMALI TEA

2 black tea bags (Yorkshire, from my Amazing Aunt)

1/2 C sugar

1 C cream

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

4 cups hot water

Bring the hot water to a boil in a pot on the stove and add all the ingredients except for the cream.
Let the tea simmer on the stove for about 15 minutes.
Strain the tea, and add sugar and cream.
Serve hot!

(Source: Somali Tea)

The verdict? It was actually really good! There was nothing special about the sambusas or the suqaar, but they were good. It was a homey meal. I could not get the folding of the sambusas correct, so I made up my own way to do it (which is the way I wrote). To do it correctly, I think you will need to use regular flour, and watch this video. They were good, and we enjoyed eating them. We had A LOT of leftover filling, because I got tired of making the wrappers - ha! So we enjoyed the filling the next night. The suqaar had almost the exact same ingredients as the filling for the sambusas, which made everything taste very similar, but had much different textures. We loved the tea. We may make our own tea this way in the future - the combination of spices was very warming and comforting.